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Topic: New JD Review: Sandtrooper (Read 6087 times)

Yes, it's time for your faithful bitcher to gush with joy at something Hasbro made... for once.Clicky Button, Ready Review

This week I'm looking at the Imperial Sandtrooper from the "Tatooine Wave", as it may be the single best army builder of 2006... It has it all and then some, and fans of the classic films can rejoice that they're not buying a ROTS Clone.

The figure comes out swinging as it's something a bit more than a simple resculpt... Hasbro ups the anty on a figure you paid $10 for in 2004, by giving him... well, more ****.

The VOTC Stormtrooper got a little retooling here and there for holding his gear on his person, and what a pile of gear he has. The accessories alone are a massive improvement and for less money than you paid for this figure the first time. That's nice.

The sculpt is great, the articulation better... It's fantastic to pose, and the black pauldron means you can build a hefty army of Stormtrooper grunts for your field forces.

Read the full review... It's mostly praise but I do cite the flaws when I see them, same as always, so just check it out and see what you think... I'm up to like 20 of this figure already if not more. I love it.

I can find fault with anything... My motto is Hasbro's never made a perfect figure and they never will. ON the Sandtrooper his pack falls off easily, the holster could've been retooled to be a LOT better than it is, etc... There's always flaws to point out so I think I'll always have a job.

I much prefer the love-fest reviews like the Sandtrooper here over reviewing a figure like Momaw Nadon and his lack of basically anything and everything positive aside from sculpt and paint. If I wanted to review that stuff I'd be buying and reviewing GG Busts.

For me, if Hasbro made the 2004/05 Cantina Wave the line "standard", I'd be content for the most part. Those were the single best figuresin one wave that the line has ever seen I think... Not VOTC quality but close, and even though they were distributed quite well they flew off the pegs... Flash forward to Tatooine Wave now and they're not moving as fast.

I think figure quality, including articulation in a major way, has a direct impact on sales... Bacara sat, Clone Commander #33 flew off the pegs and wasn't even in the film... Why? Hasbro really needs to think about these things I believe... Had Derlin had good leg articulation would he have sat? What about Carkoon Han if he'd had knee joints? I dunno... I'd have bought more of each personally had they been better articulated. As it was, I only got extras at sale prices.

Something I find irritating is the paint apps on his back. Jesse, look at your photo of the sandie that has a front and back shot. Where's the dirt on his backside?! What, is HAsbro trying to say that Sandies our supreme troops and are never 'on their ass'? It's really strange the amount of cleanliness from the back view. An argument about the backpack preventing dirt would be crap too. You know tatooine sand 'gets everywhere' as Annakin put it. Geez, kinda white on the back of his legs too...I guess when they walk the dust only kicks up on the front side .

Well, I guess it's the only thing I could complain about on the stormie

I'm trying to think if you ever get a good look at the BACK of a Sandtrooper in ANH... I can't think of one off-hand. They may not be dirty on the backside in the film though... Not sure.

I think Hasbro maybe also was going for a "regular" Trooper look too incase you wanted maybe just a trooper who didn't clean his gear often? Just a possibility. Making a toy more diverse can make it more appealing.

The only two improvements I would make are ball jointed hips and a DS Gunner like holster.

Agreed. Ball jointed hips would have been perfect for this figure. Especially in light of the inclusion of the staff/prod accessory that got included with this Sandtrooper. That accessory implies that this Sandy rides a dewback, and as such the figure should be able to sit on Hasbro's POTF2 Dewback. But it can't, and in that regard I find this one fault with the figure.

I think ball/socket hips are a great idea as well, and you're right too Nick that it would've been a cool feature so a trooper could actually mount the Dewback and look right. As it stands the POTF2 sculpt is all we've got to contend with for that...

I'm not sure the deal with the prod/staff though. It definitely resembles the Dewback staff but the actual staff from the film is longer and the POTF2 one is more accurate for the troopers riding the Dewback... So I'm just not sure what Hasbro's deal was with the new one. It's a neat accessory but almost appeared to me like a crowd control stick or some such. It's not film accurate though so it's kind of odd. I found it strange we even got it in the first place.

The Sandtrooper getting some new legs and re-released on a Dewback would be a welcome addition though.

Great review and a nice figure too. As long as they find ways to release the VOTC sculpt stormie, I'm not going to complain too much about the hips. I wish the shoes didn't look completely clean while his legs managed to get dirty, but that's nitpicking. I do hope retail eventually allows Hasbro to make a new beast assortment, and that they don't re-use the POTF2 dewback.